Fivetran vs DataStage

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Our analysts compared Fivetran vs DataStage based on data from our 400+ point analysis of ETL Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

DataStage Software Tool

Product Basics

Fivetran is a cloud-native data extraction tool that simplifies and streamlines the data analysis process with a zero-maintenance pipeline that ensures expedient, transparent delivery of data from source to warehouse. Built to empower analysts, it allows users to accelerate analytics and achieve faster time-to-insights without the need for complex engineering, promoting more efficient data-driven decision-making for users of all technical skill levels.

Suitable for small to large companies, it is a public-cloud hosted SaaS available through annual subscriptions, paid via invoice. Pricing is volume based with three tiers of plans, in ascending order of offerings and cost: Starter, Standard and Enterprise.

Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Connects to many data sources
  • Fast and reliable data pipelines
  • Centralized data management
  • Scalable for large data volumes
Cons
  • Limited customizability
  • Can be expensive for complex needs
  • Not ideal for real-time data
  • Limited support for data transformations
  • Learning curve for advanced features
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DataStage assists businesses with data integration through automated extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes. It excels in handling high data volumes from diverse sources, making it ideal for organizations managing complex data landscapes. Key benefits include improved data quality, streamlined analytics, and enhanced decision-making. Popular features involve visual job design, pre-built transformations, and parallel processing capabilities. User experiences within the ETL context praise DataStage's reliability, scalability, and robust job scheduling functionalities. However, its licensing model based on named user seats or processing power can be costlier compared to subscription-based alternatives. Ultimately, DataStage shines for businesses prioritizing robust ETL capabilities and data volume scalability.

Pros
  • Visual job design
  • Scalable performance
  • Robust data handling
  • Reliable data integration
  • Strong job scheduling
Cons
  • Complex to learn
  • Costly licensing model
  • Limited cloud integration
  • Potential performance issues
  • Lacks automation features
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$55 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$1.75/Capacity Unit-Hour (CUH)
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Five-Minute Setup: The platform boasts a zero-maintenance configuration process that can have users up and running in 10 clicks.
  • Data Simplified: Users can simplify their data stack with streamlined data extraction and preparation processes, allowing for more accurate and efficient access to analytics.
  • Optimized Loading: Automatic updates reduce data entry tasks and ensure real-time accuracy across storage facilities. The platform also reduces workloads on cloud data warehouses by putting the brunt of demand on their servers instead of the warehouses’. 
  • Centralize Data: The solution helps users to extract data from disparate sources and load it into their data warehouse to create a single, cohesive source of truth in the cloud.
  • Flexibility: Standing apart from many traditional data tools, Fivetran utilizes ELT (extract, load, transform) over ETL (extract, transform and load). By flipping the last two steps of the process and postponing data transformation, it ensures that stored data won’t be compromised by transformations, allowing users to perform analysis more deliberately and securely.
  • Smooth Integrations: Integration with other systems is intuitive and smooth with this platform. Its seamless data sync allows users to draw data from their CRM, ERP or other business solutions as well as a range of cloud data sources, allowing for real-time monitoring.
  • Data Security: The system has advanced security features and is compliant with PCI, HIPAA, GDPR and SOC 2 standards. It also encrypts data in motion and at rest, purging data after every sync. 
  • Built to Scale: The platform helps users navigate a world of exponential data growth, with instantly scalable cloud resources, optimized processes and pricing plans that keep up with companies as they grow. 
  • Free Trial: Interested buyers can receive a free 14-day trial of the platform to test connectors and features by signing up on the vendor’s website. Users can add up to two sources and set up an unlimited number of connectors for those sources, pointing to one destination. Users interested in adding more sources or destinations can contact the Fivetran sales team for more information.
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  • Enhanced Data Integrity: Streamlines data cleansing, transformation, and validation, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
  • Faster Insights: Simplifies data preparation for analytics and reporting, accelerating time-to-value.
  • Automated Data Workflows: Automates repetitive ETL tasks, freeing up resources for higher-value activities.
  • Handles High Data Volumes: Efficiently processes large and complex datasets, enabling scalability for future growth.
  • Connects Diverse Data Sources: Integrates data from various sources, including relational databases, flat files, and cloud applications.
  • Improved Data Lineage: Provides clear traceability of data flow, ensuring compliance and data security.
  • Adapts to Evolving Needs: Offers a flexible platform to adapt to changing data requirements and business needs.
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  • Data Connectivity: The solution has data connectors for 100 sources, with the option for users to create their own data connector to APIs not yet natively supported. It directly pulls information from cloud applications. Users can also upload or email files into a cloud storage service and have that data loaded into their warehouse. The system reflects changes made to live files such as Google Sheets.
  • Extract Data: The solution connects natively to over 100 SaaS sources, automatically extracting information from those sources after an admin has granted the tool access through OAuth. The system normalizes, cleanses and standardizes data before loading.
  • Data Sync: Upon connection, the system performs a historical sync. From there, instead of arduously reloading full data dumps from APIs and databases, the solution optimizes loadings by incrementally updating data sources in batches, with data load time configurable as frequently as five minutes and as infrequent as every 24 hours.
  • Load into Cloud Data Warehouses: Fivetran supports modem cloud warehouses like BigQuery, Snowflake, Azure and Redshift.
  • Transform Data: The platform preps data, normalizing schemas from APIs, so that it can be analyzed instantly. Transformations always happen in the warehouse so that the raw data is always available alongside the transformed data; data will never be lost and the transformations can be edited and run again on the raw data.
  • Alerts: The system notifies users if there are delays or issues in any step of the process.
  • Dashboards: Users interact with the platform via dashboards that display information about ELT processes in a visual, easy-to-digest format.
  • System Logs: The solution maintains transparency with granular system logs of every sync that users can cross-reference in their own logging system.
  • Metadata Management: A suite of policies and procedures allows users to manage the data which describes other data such as file size, date of data creation, tags, titles, authors, etc.
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  • Visual Job Design: Drag-and-drop interface for creating and managing ETL workflows.
  • Pre-Built Transformations: Library of common data transformations to simplify complex tasks.
  • Parallel Processing: Distributes data processing across multiple servers for faster performance.
  • Data Quality Tools: Built-in capabilities to cleanse, validate, and profile data.
  • Metadata Management: Centralized repository for managing data definitions and lineage.
  • Scalability: Handles increasing data volumes and complexity efficiently.
  • Security: Protects sensitive data with encryption and access controls.
  • Integration with Other Tools: Interoperability with various data sources, targets, and BI tools.
  • Cloud Deployment: Available as a cloud-based solution for flexibility and scalability.
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Product Ranking

#7

among all
ETL Tools

#22

among all
ETL Tools

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Analyst Rating Summary

90
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86
97
75
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93
70
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Platform Capabilities
Platform Security
Metadata Management
Data Transformation
Data Sources and Targets Connectivity
Metadata Management
Performance and Scalability
Platform Capabilities
Platform Security
Data Delivery

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Fivetran
DataStage
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Data Delivery Data Quality Data Sources And Targets Connectivity Data Transformation Metadata Management Platform Capabilities Workflow Management 86 75 93 94 96 100 81 97 97 70 94 100 100 96 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

83%
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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 28 reviews
Great User Sentiment 208 reviews
92%
of users recommend this product

Fivetran has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 28 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

85%
of users recommend this product

DataStage has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 85% when considering 208 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

n/a
4.0 (69)
4.64 (14)
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4.6 (14)
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4.4 (104)
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4.2 (35)

Awards

Fivetran stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Effortless Data Integration: Connects to hundreds of data sources with pre-built connectors and minimal setup.
Automated Data Pipelines: Schedules and runs data transfers reliably, freeing up time for analysis.
Centralized Data Management: Provides a single source of truth for all your data, simplifying reporting and decision-making.
Scalable for Growth: Handles large data volumes with ease, adapting to your evolving needs.
Improved Data Visibility: Makes data readily available for everyone in your organization, fostering data-driven decision-making.
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Efficient Handling of Large Datasets: Parallel processing capabilities enable DataStage to distribute tasks across multiple servers, significantly speeding up the processing of large datasets.
Robust Error Handling and Logging: Users appreciate the built-in error handling mechanisms and logging features for identifying and troubleshooting issues effectively.
Data Quality Tools and Lineage Tracking: DataStage offers a range of data quality tools and transformers, along with staging tables and lineage tracking, to ensure data consistency and traceability.
Flexible Scheduling and Monitoring: Users find the Job Conductor's flexibility in scheduling jobs, as well as the real-time monitoring dashboards and email alerts, to be valuable for managing ETL workflows.
Extensive Connectivity Options: The ability to seamlessly integrate with various databases, cloud platforms, and enterprise applications through built-in and third-party adapters is a key advantage for many users.
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Limited Customizability: Relies on pre-built connectors, making complex data pipelines or transformations challenging.
Costly for Advanced Needs: Pricing scales with data volume and complexity, becoming expensive for intricate ETL processes.
Batch-Oriented Transfers: Focuses on scheduled data refreshes, not ideal for real-time needs or low-latency pipelines.
Basic Data Transformations: Offers limited built-in transformations, requiring additional tools for complex data manipulation.
Advanced Feature Learning Curve: Mastering custom connectors, scripting, or other advanced features requires technical expertise.
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Steep Learning Curve: Users often cite the complex interface and extensive features as having a steep learning curve, requiring dedicated training and experience to master.
Debugging Challenges: Troubleshooting errors in complex DataStage jobs can be time-consuming, as the debugging tools can be limited and intricate to navigate.
Potential Performance Issues: While parallel processing is a strength, inefficient job design or resource constraints can lead to performance bottlenecks, requiring careful optimization.
Licensing Costs: The licensing model can be seen as expensive, especially for large-scale deployments or cloud-based environments.
Limited Cloud Integration: While connectivity options exist, native integration with cloud platforms and services could be more seamless, as some users find it challenging to leverage cloud resources effectively within DataStage.
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Users praise Fivetran for its ease of use and effortless data integration. "Setting up connectors is straightforward," one reviewer comments, "like plugging in appliances." This plug-and-play simplicity sets it apart from competitors like Stitch, often lauded for its flexibility but criticized for a steeper learning curve. However, Fivetran's strength in pre-built connectors comes at a cost: limited customizability. While users love its "seamless data movement," another user points out it's "not ideal for complex transformations," requiring additional tools that negate its initial ease. This lack of advanced ETL capabilities puts it behind platforms like Informatica PowerCenter, but at a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, Fivetran shines for its user-friendly approach and reliable data pipelines, perfect for businesses prioritizing simplicity and scalability. But for complex data manipulation or real-time needs, users might find themselves yearning for the power and flexibility of other ETL solutions.

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User opinions on DataStage paint a contrasting picture. On the one hand, it earns praise for its sheer power and versatility. Its parallel processing muscles tackle massive datasets with ease, while its robust error handling and data quality tools keep pipelines flowing smoothly. Integration with diverse data sources, from legacy databases to cloud platforms, is another major plus, making it a one-stop shop for complex ETL needs. These strengths are especially valuable for large enterprises with intricate data landscapes. However, DataStage's complexity can be a double-edged sword. Its feature-rich interface and steep learning curve can intimidate newcomers, and troubleshooting intricate jobs can be a puzzle. Users also point to occasional performance hiccups, highlighting the need for careful optimization under heavy workloads. Additionally, while cloud connectivity exists, some find it less seamless compared to native cloud-based ETL tools, which might not be ideal for organizations prioritizing cloud agility. When compared to competitors, DataStage shines in its scalability and feature depth. For handling massive data volumes and complex transformations, it stands out. However, for smaller-scale needs or organizations prioritizing ease of use and native cloud integration, lighter-weight ETL options might be more appealing. Ultimately, the choice boils down to individual priorities and project complexity. DataStage remains a powerful beast, but acknowledging its learning curve and potential cloud limitations is crucial for a balanced evaluation.

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